Lin Mei threw her forearm over her eyes as twenty feet of boiling white Clause-Pulp erupted from the caisson shaft.
The scalding slurry hissed through the cold air like liquid lime, filling the open well with the bitter stench of wet gypsum and burnt collagen.
“Pull her back right now!” Julian Vance roared from the catwalk above, his boots skidding across the vibration-rippled deck plates.
“Haul on that line, Mac!” Julian shouted, throwing his entire weight into the safety harness webbing.
“I have the main bight locked in my brass elbow!” Mac Cole bellowed, leaning back over the safety stanchion.
“Brace your heels against the coaming, Julian!” Mac yelled, his boots grinding into the salt crust.
Julian and Mac hauled on the heavy nylon safety tether with all their strength, dragging Lin Mei’s harness three feet backward against the structural column.
Doctor Victor Corvo lunged forward over the lower safety rail, snapping open his heavy lead-lined autopsy apron like a blast shield.
